The Story of Digital Voice: Ben Hunter
Over the fifteen years the organisation has been in existence we’ve collected together a rather wonderful group of people who bring their skills and experience to our projects.
As this series of articles has demonstrated, people have found their way to Digital Voice through a variety of channels. Many of them have developed skills whilst with the company and Ben Hunter is no exception. Ben is part of the core team here at Digital Voice and we chatted about how a six month placement turned into a permanent job and a new passion for digital drawing.
Ben is the Digital Media Worker for the organisation, writing and scheduling social media posts as well as assisting on courses and filming. He studied Media Production at college where he achieved a Level 3 Diploma, as well as a Level 2 Diploma in IT. He worked for Collectables on their social media channels before looking for something different.
“I was searching for jobs through the DWP’s Kickstarter scheme in late 2021/ early 2022 but wasn’t having much luck. An interview for a company that provided performers with tour vans didn’t go anywhere, and I missed out on a Content Creation position with a vegan chef. One day in early March 2022, when looking through the Kickstarter jobs I noticed Digital Voice’s job advert and it looked like everything I’d been searching for.”
The government’s Kickstarter Scheme was designed to offer 6 month paid placements to young people, giving them valuable employability skills. I asked Ben what his experience of the placement was like:
“I learned the importance of being flexible and versatile; there are not many other office jobs with as much travel and out-of-office work involved as Digital Voice. It wasn't something I expected but it's part of what I enjoy about the job.”
The scheme didn’t guarantee an offer of work but Ben’s hardwork and enthusiasm paid off and he was made a permanent member of the team. I asked what he enjoys most about working for Digital Voice:
“I really enjoy the varied nature of the job; if ever I’ve spent too much time at my desk, there’s always some project to be out assisting on or a boom that needs operating, I wouldn’t go so far as to say no two days are the same, but there’s a lot of variety and if ever I need a change of pace, there’s always something else to be doing. I also really love getting to edit videos, especially for our Geostories projects as I have an interest in local history.”
Always a hard one to answer, but can Ben pick a favourite project? (The answer is no, he can’t pick just one!)
Digital drawing at St. George’s was a highlight for me, we delivered digital drawing sessions to a group of patients there, and they seemed visibly happier at the end of each session. I remember one of them saying it was the best thing she’d done since she became unwell, and another went out and bought his own IPad to do digital drawing in his own time. It felt very rewarding to know we were helping these people and giving them something fun to do while they were under section, even if only for a couple of hours a week.
Another big one that comes to mind were the recent GCN community promo videos we did. There were four different community centres we made promos for, and I got to take part in the filming of all of them, as well as editing them, so I really appreciated getting to take part in every stage of production and I’d like to think I did a pretty decent job.”
And finally, I asked Ben whether his work with the organisation has opened up any new interests?
“Digital drawing, digital drawing, digital drawing. I absolutely love digital drawing. I always hated art as a kid, but I could genuinely spend hours sitting with an iPad on Procreate and never get bored.”
To ignite a similar passion in your groups, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.